A Community at Its Best
By Naseem Shekhani, MD
St. Louis, MO

The World Memon Organisation’s (WMO) Board of Trustees and Board of Management met in Dubai, UAE on December 23-26, 2006. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Haji Razak Gandhi of ARY Digital Network. Besides being the President of WMO, he also hosted the meeting and coordinated with Mr. M. Rafiq Noorani.
Mr. Gandhi urged the Memon community to realize the importance of cohesiveness and unity, which he thought was a pressing need of the time. He also requested the attendees to pay special attention to the youth of the community; as they are to serve as the building block for the years ahead.
WMO is an umbrella organization of 1.2 million Memons around the world. The Memon community is known for its business acumen and philanthropy. WMO has seven chapters in Pakistan, India, Far East, Middle East, South Africa, UK and our own USA.
In the initial phase of the meeting the budget of 2005 was reviewed and passed; the budget for 2006-7 was subsequently passed. Many issues facing the Memon community were discussed, but the emphasis was placed on housing projects, micro-economics and above all, education. In Sri Lanka 100 homes were built as coop, and the estimated cost of these houses was one million dollars. 50% of the cost was met by WMO. In India, 135 scholarships were awarded since the last meeting for higher education:so far a quarter million dollars have been awarded. Lastly, the Pakistan Chapter has built or bought 210 houses for needy families. During last year more than 100 million rupees were donated for quake victims and volunteers from Karachi and Sindh went to the northern parts of the country to provide relief and succor to victims. “We at WMO, are proud of helping the community, which was located 10,000 feet above the sea level.” said Mr. Yasin Saya of WMO Central.
A session was dedicated to the Memon Medical Institute, which is under construction in Karachi, Pakistan. Built near the airport the institute on completion will be a 330-bedded hospital furnished with state of the art equipment. The estimated cost of the hospital is 900 million rupees. Phase one will be completed by the end of 2007. A German team of experts is advising the board, stated Dr. Tufail Mohammed. Mr. Diwan, Chairperson of the board of MMI, and Mr. Ajaz Saya, CEO of MMI, also spoke on the occasion. They manifestly enjoyed the support of members of the Memon community present in the meeting.
Mr. Yousuf Tar, President of USA Chapter, stated that there is a need to organize Memons living in the USA and Canada. The main goal of the North America Chapter is to provide financial assistance to WMO and to promote professional education amongst the younger generation.
The meeting was a great success. The Board of WMO has successfully identified the long- and short-term goals. The next general body meeting will be held in Karachi, Pakistan in mid-April 2007.

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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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